Washed Away
by StarRise
Summary: Seperated and washed ashore, two girls find new lives and dreams. But can all of their dreams come true? and what happens when you have almost everything that you ever dreamed of, only to loose it again?
1. On The Water

**Washed Away**

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN DINOTOPIA. All of it belongs to some wonderfully creative guy by the name of James Gurney. Seeing as how I am neither male nor is my name James Gurney I obviously own absolutely nothing. Do we understand one another?**

The ship rocked on the gentle ocean swell, barely shifting the young woman balanced on the rail, arms flung out in mockery of the seagulls circling and calling overhead. Sometimes when she closed her eyes and just listened, she could feel as though she was up there, with them, wheeling on the warm ocean breezes above all cares. The perfect dream was shattered as cold water splashed over her, a shock in the heat of the day. Tumbling backward, unable to catch her self, Kat found herself staring up into the bright blue eyes of her best friend. A mock growl of rage escaped her lips as she leapt to her feet and proceeded to chase the other girl around the deck, inarticulate threats of revenge ringing through the air.

The two men relaxing by the wheel laughed at the antics of the pair, especially when Kat finally caught her much taller friend and wrestled the blond to the ground. The girls shoved and punched mockingly, not doing nor intending any real damage. The men laughed all the harder as the spray thrown up by a passing wave speeder broke up the mock battle prematurely. Realizing that they had been the entertainment of the moment, Kat and SJ jumped to their feet, nursing mock wounds, and disappeared below deck. In the damp coolness below they jostled for the much-coveted seat by the main manhole.

Though SJ was taller, Kat weighed more, and pushed her friend from the perch to tumble to the floor. The blond girl rolled into a sitting position, sticking out her tongue as she pulled her hair back from her eyes. The two were rarely truly angry with each other, a fact that might not have been obvious to a causal observer simply looking in on the pair.

"Are we having fun yet?" Kat teased softly.

The blonde girl shrugged, drawing her hair over one shoulder and playing with it as she gazed absently out the window. "I can defiantly think of better things to be doing with my time, but it could be worse."

One of the men flipped open a cooler and whipped a can from beneath a layer of ice, tapping the top a few times before popping the tab and taking a big chug. The other man laughed as he fired up a grill, adjusting the propane flame to just the right intensity to grill the steaks he had just pulled from another cooler. "Does that really work? My daughter keeps insisting that it does, but I can never tell."

The balding man held up his soda and eyed it for a moment. "You know, I don't know if it really works either, or what it does to make it work. But I don know that since I started doing it, I have not had one soda explode on me. And that used to be one of the boys favorite tricks too. To go through and shake up all of my soda's, I mean."

"Oh, I'll believe it. Sounds just like something my boy would go and do. You know, this is probably one of the best ideas that Marie and Ann have had in a long time. Us taking the girls out for an afternoon while they take the boys and Kate."

"Agreed, but why didn't Kate want to come? I'd've thought that she would have put up a fuss when she found out that the girls were going."

The first stake sizzled as he tossed it on the grill. "She doesn't like boats. She is convinced that she will drown in anything larger than a bathtub." They both laughed. "Well, a swimming pool, maybe, but you get the picture. When she found out that we were going out of sight of land she just about had a fit. She's a mommy's girl anyway. though. It worked out better this way. Right now they are all probably on the mainland enjoying a nice meal at one of those seaside restaurants."

Below, SJ had climbed so that she was seated on the table beside another porthole. She looked across the waves and gave a slight shudder, causing Kat to chuckle with amusement. "You really don't like this, do you?"

The blond stuck out her tongue. "The number of times that you have heard my rants on the evils of large bodies of water and you still have to ask me that?"

"What's so scary about it? I love it!"

"I know YOU do. That's why we're out here."

"You didn't have to come, you know that?" the redhead asked, flicking the empty shell of the peanut that she had just eaten at her friend. "Kate didn't"

"That's different. She's little. She can beg out of it. She just didn't want to spend the entire day out here with you and me because she knew that we would ignore her most of the time. She's really not afraid."

"Ah well, look at it this way- We DON'T have to mess with her for the rest of the afternoon, so lets make the best of it. Bet I can beat you in a game of Lord of the Rings Trivia."

SJ sprang to her feet, eyes alight. "Like heck you can. You're on. Looser has to fold all of the laundry when we get back to the Island."

"Bring it on."

Okay, very long chapter for me, so don't get spoiled. Anyway, please R&R. This is only my second attempt at a fanfiction, so I would really appreciate some feedback ya'll.


	2. In The Water

**Washed Away**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer- I DO NOT own Diontopia. Not even Jimmny Cricket can change this fact. **

The pair leaned against the railing together, watching the setting sun reflecting off the water and the clouds. Tired and full, they were content to observe the beauties of nature in silence. It was only as the last of the blazing light sank behind the horizon that they truly realized how late it was. They turned to where their fathers stood by the boat controls.

"Shouldn't we be heading back in? It's getting late, and no offense, but neither of you have ever really sailed before."

One of the men held up handset to the radio. "The docks are closed. One of the larger boats had a leak and caught on fire. They have the coast guard and everyone out there trying to clean up the mess so that the rest of us can back in there. Why don't you two go on down below and see if you can't come up with something for dinner?"

Glancing with resignation to the land just visible in distance, distinguishable from the lights of the night life the girls did as they were. Below they threw some water in a heater and begin to heat it up while they searched through the lunch leftovers in hope of finding something that they could create a decent soup out of. SJ help up a bag.

"Somehow I don't think that half a bag of potato chips will go very well in soup."

Kat grabbed it form her and held it up I irritation. "No, but they'll go well enough with it provided that we can find something to actually put in that water that we're heating up."

"Hey! Bullion cubes and some of those baby carrots!"

"Well that's a start. Here's some cinnamon and the rest of those potatoes that we brought to bake on the grill and never got around to. Throw those in."

SJ held up the jar skeptically. "Cinnamon?"

"Just trust me on this one and throw some in, okay? I think we're going to have to live with a sort of veggie stew, because I'm not finding any meat in this cooler whatsoever."

SJ dumped in the cinnamon and began chopping the carrots as Kat produced another knife from somewhere and peeled and cubed the potatoes. She shorted redhead dumped the entire mixture together and snorted. "Knowing our luck ,as soon as this is ready we'll get word that we can head in and we'll have done all of this work for nothing."

They set back and looked at one another until SJ grinned. "Ready to have your butt whipped at Trivia again?"

Kat woke slowly, the crik in her neck slowly bringing her back to consciousness. Then the sickness welled up in her stomach. Maybe that second bowl of soup hadn't been such a good idea after all. She needed to visit the bathroom, or whatever it was that they called in on a ship. The head or something ridiculous like that. SJ had fallen asleep leaning against her and pinning her in the corner . With a gentle shove Kat tried to shift the blond enough to release.

Sending both of them flying across the cabin had not bee her intention. Suddenly squished between Kat and the wall, SJ woke much more quickly.

"What was that for?"

"I didn't do it,. I swear.-"

Freed from the protection of the corner, both girls started to tumble across the floor as ship rocked back the other direction.

"What is going on?"

"I dunno!"

"Where's dad?"

"I dunno!"

The ship rocked again, and this time Kat grabbed the edge of the table, using the moment to pull herself to her feet. She grabbed SJ as the blond tumbled by, and together they staggered up the steps. The door was stuck, or so they thought. Together ether managed to push it open, only to have it ripped from their fingers.

Outside was like something from a nightmare. It was almost pitch black, lit only by the flashes of lightning. The deck was empty, the emergency lights shattered and the instruments dark.

"Dad!" SJ called, pushing past. Kat grabbed for her and missed as the ship dropped out from under her feet and a wave washed across the deck, sweeping her to one side. She slammed into the rail. pain erupting in her side.

"SJ!"

There wasn't any response, and the next wave knocked her against the rail again then over it as she lost her balance. Lightning cracked overhead, and Kat thought she might have seen someone floating in the water on her way down, just before she hit the water. The pain from the impact was instantaneous, then gone, swallowed by a blissful darkness.

C'mon folks. just one little review? I swear that leaving one will not curse, hex, or jinx you in anyway! Pretty please? I really need to know if anyone likes this one because I'm not sure if I do, and if nobody else really likes it I might take this down and rewrite it again.


	3. More Problems

**Washed Away**

**Chapter 3**

Disclaimer- This is not mine. If it were mine I would not be writing a fanfiction about because I would own it and could do whatever I wanted with it, Si?

Altan walked along the beach, scuffing the sand with every step. His head jerked skyward as a bird passed overhead. The bird was there and gone, but he continued to stare at the clouds, as though he couldn't turn his eyes away. All he had ever wanted to do was to fly...

And he had that chance. He had been selected to attend skybax training, to soar among the clouds. Everyone seemed sure that he could do, why wasn't he?

He was a Dennision.

There. That was it. He had put his finger right on the problem. He was a Dennision. His father and mother had both been skybax riders, their fame spreading the length and breadth of the island. His sister Remora had earned her saddle gained a skybax companion years ago. Now it was his turn.

The pressure weighed down on him heavily. Not the pressure that being a skybax rider was what he had to be. Of four siblings Remora was the only other one that had become a skybax rider. His other brothers and sisters were all happily settled in careers of their own. Their parents had always been supportive of whatever they had wanted to do.

No it pressure from himself. Flying was all that he had ever wanted, and he was afraid of failing. Not because of what others might think, not because of what his parents might have thought, but because of what it would mean for him. The end of all of his dreams...

A whistle off to his right distracted him. He waved at the dolphin playing in the water, and then grinned when it rose up on its tail. He was turned away and was shocked when the dolphin called after him again, this time more insistently. As soon as it was sure that it had his attention the dolphin turned and began to swim down the coast, pausing to make sure that it had conveyed the point to thickheaded human this time.

Altan waved and jogged off down the beach in the same direction that the dolphin was taking, indicating that he understood. Rounding a corner along the beach he came upon a natural gravel cove where the dolphin stopped, squealing impatiently. A moment later he spotted the object of their concern.

A girl lay just out of the water, limp and soaked. Altan raced to her side and moved long, waterlogged red hair away from pale face. He wished she would wake up. He didn't want to hurt her by moving her if she was already injured, but he couldn't leave her here either. There were water marks on the rocks indicating that entire cove was submerged during high tide, and tide change would start in less than an hour.

He looked her over more closely. Her clothes were strange, of a design that he had never seen before. Which made her a ...

"Dolphinback." He whispered in surprise and looked out to the dolphins who were all raising out of the water, watching them. One if them squeaked and he raised a hand before looking back at the girl. "Hey..." he whispered hesitantly, shaking her shoulder a bit. When nothing happened he shook a little harder. "Hey, wake up. We need to move."

Brown-green eyes opened slowly, but refused to focus. A low moan escaped the girls lips before they slid shut again. Altan chewed on his own lips and glanced at the sun overhead. Even if he ran all of the way back to the Hatchery he couldn't get back with help before tide rose... Splashing once again drew his attention back to the ocean, and Altan almost cried at his good luck. A fishing boat had drifted into view, and was now being guided his direction by the dolphins.

As soon as the boats keel came in dangers of scraping the bottom of the cove several men jumped overboard and waded ashore, coming to stand around the girl. One of them offered a hand. "Deven Mithenport. What you got here?"

"Altan Denision," Altan answered, shaking the mans hand briskly. "A dolphinback, I think. The dolphins led me to her, but I didn't know what to do with her by myself."

"Hard to know when they're unconscious." Deven's companion agreed. "Is we get a spare sail from the ship we could make a sling and move her without jostling her too much. Just enough to get her on dry ground. The others can take the boat to the Hatchery and bring back help."

"Right," Deven agreed, "Stay here, I'll wade out and get the sail and tell the others what's going on." With that he was gone, leaving the other two to keep watch over the still figure. He returned a moment later, and together the three worked as gently as possible moving the newcomer.

Then they settled down to wait.

Soo, everyone liky? And you can stop bugging me for a little bit SJ.


	4. Dreadful Teases

**Washed Away**

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: I almost forgot. No mine.**

SJ groaned and opened her eyes, wincing as the bright sun caused them to sting and tear. She sat up slowly, her entire body rebelling at the motion. What had happened? Then it all came rushing back. She and Kat and their fathers, out on the ocean for an afternoon of fun... The storm that had come up and washed her overboard. And Kat and...

She tried to scramble to her feet, but could only manage a slow stagger. She was alone on the stretch of beach. On one side the ocean reached on for as far as she could see. In the other direction plains, the horizon broken only by a small, dark lump. It looked as though she had washed ashore at an outlet, where a river met the ocean. With a sigh she started to follow the river inwards. It was bound to lead to somebody, unless she had washed ashore some where in the amazon or something. And if she was there it really didn't matter, because the chances of anyone finding her were basically zero.

A splash from the direction of the water caused her to look over. Leaping out of the water was a dolphin. It disappeared beneath a wave as another one surfaced, and SJ froze as other memories came tumbling back.

_Sinking beneath the water..._

_Choking and burning as the salty fluid ran into her lungs..._

_Thrashing in desperation, totally on instinct, even as a small part of her mind screamed that it was the wrong thing to do..._

_Sinking... beneath the water into darkness, then rising again..._

_Gray shapes swirling around her, pointed dorsal fins illuminated in the brief flashes of lightning..._

_Huge smiles... Rows of teeth..._

_And the darkness again..._

"You saved me, didn't you?"

One of them swam into the shallow water and squeaked at her. She waded out until there were eye to eye.

"Did you save anyone else, another girl? Long red hair? Well, I guess you probably couldn't tell what color the hair was, but was there anyone else? What about a man? Two men? Did you bring them to shore too?" The dolphin looked at her calmly, but didn't move, didn't make a sound.

"Well, did you?!" SJ cried in frustration. Then she hit the water in her anger. "Why I am asking you? You can't even understand me."

"Actually, "A voice from behind her interrupted, "You would be surprised."

SJ jumped and spun around. A boy was standing not twenty feet from her. He alone would have been odd enough, dressed as he was, but it was his companions that captured and held SJ's attention.

"Dreaming, I've got to be dreaming. Okay, SJ, time to wake. "She blinked a couple of times, but they didn't disappear. They were still there, towering above the young man on either side. In disbelief the blonde promptly pinched her arm, wincing at the stinging pain and causing the creatures to break into hoots of laughter.

"They always do that."

"Why are humans so silly?"

"All newcomers are like that!"

The boy shook his head, causing his white-blonde hair to shift from side to side. "Don't mind them. They're dreadful teases."

"Where am I?" SJ demanded slowly.

He grinned. "I've gone and forgotten my manners, haven't I? Welcome, to Dinotopia."

"Dinotopia..." She repeated hesitantly. "So I'm not... dreaming? They really are... real?"

"Am I real?" One of them hooted suddenly. "Of course I am. He's the one that not real!"

"He's lying. I'm the real one. "The other pointed accusing. "He's the fake!"

The one on the right jerked in surprise, jaw dropping in mock shock. "Am not!"

"You are too!" The one on the left responded indignantly.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

The man chuckled and walked away from the pair, who continued on arguing without even realizing that he had moved. "Like I said, they love to tease."

"What are they?"

"Sandstone and Redcliff? They're Anatosaurus, members of the Hadrosaur family."

"Hadrosaur... duck bill..." SJ said quietly, looking up at the creatures towering twenty feet over her head.

"Yah, they still have a lot of growing to do."

"Growing..." SJ repeated weakly. "Yah... right."

"So... are you ready to go?"

"Go where?"

"Sauropolis."

"Saur-where?

He laughed. "Sauropolis. It's the capital of Dinotopia. It's just a way up the bay here."

He began to walk away when something occurred to SJ. "Wait! You said.. you said that they understand more than I might think? Did they understand me? Can you understand them? Can you ask them?"

He hesitated. "Ask them about what?"

"About my father. About my friend. About her father. They couldn't have.. they wouldn't have just brought me... would they..?"

A deep sadness filled his voice. "I don't know. What happened?"

"We were on a boat, we were supposed to be having fun. A storm came and..." her voice broke.

A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she found herself looking into his eyes. They were an odd mixture of blue, gray, and silver, very pale, and very still. "I'm sorry. But if you are the only one here.... Then I would say that it is likely that you are the only one to have survived."

The grief was instant and intense. SJ jerked away, turning so that she was looking back out to the ocean again. The was water was calm, and anger filled her. How could it have the nerve to take her friends and her family from her, and then look like this! It wasn't fair.

He left her alone to her grief. Any words of comfort would have been empty, any action done more harm than good. This was something that she was going to have to work out for herself, and he could only help as she would let him, and right now he could sense that she wanted no help from him. Finally she turned her back on the ocean, her anger spent, leaving only sadness.

"I'm ready to go." she whispered, setting off along the beach.

"You might reach the city around tomorrow at that rate."

She in pain, SJ turned on him, releasing some of her grief. "Oh yah? Well then how do you propose that we get there, Mr. Smarty?

He motioned in the direction of the still arguing dinos. "Sandstone and Redcliff will give us lift."

With a sigh SJ walked over to one of the Anatosaurus. Redcliff, she guessed, to judging from his coloration. Upon closer inspection she realized that he was wearing a harness with a light saddle designed like a chair situated upon his back. Without missing a beat the dinosaur lowered his upper body, allowing her to mount with a minimal effort. As he rose she looked over and was surprised to see the boy easily balancing bareback

"One more question."

"Ask away."

"What's your name?"

He laughed. "By the first egg, I am making a mess of this! Verel. It's Verel."

SJ nodded and rolled the name of her tongue. "Verel... Verel. I'm SJ."

Verel opened his mouth to add something else when he was abruptly cut off.

"I'm Sandstone."

"My name is Redcliff. A much better name than his."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not!"

Both of the humans looked at each other, then burst into laughter as the dinosaurs began a new argument, once more completely oblivious to their riders.

(A/N) Well SJ, are you happy now? You can stop griping, at least for a little while, no? To everyone else, R&R!

To Hawaiianshirtguy (did I spell that right?)- Here's your answer. I have a bad habit of not making myself clear sometimes, but I didn't want to tell you who it was off the bat either. It'll make sense later on.


	5. What?

**Washed Away**

**All right ya'll, sorry it has taken me such a long time to get this up. I've been having some problems with my computer and with my interent and with time in general. Anyway... I have another chapter ready, so I'm posting two this time and you all can be happy for at elast a little while. **

**Disclaimer: And before I get into any trouble, for the last time (I WISH!)- DINOTOPIA NO IS MINE!**

She groaned and blinked as the sunlight blazed intosleep foggedeyes. After a few moment she realized that she was lying in a bed in some sort of dormitory. There were beds lining the wall the length of the hall on both sides, all empty and neatly made. She took a deep breath and winced, pressing hand to her side. It hurt really bad to breathe, and even worse if she took a deep breath.

Where was she?

Panic filled her.

Who was she?

She didn't remember anything. She buried her face in her hands, trying to calm herself and keep from crying at the same time. She didn't move again until a voice beside her startled her.

"Ahh... You're finally awake. Good. Good."

The creature standing before her was enough to make her believe that she had fallen back asleep once more. He... It... whatever it was, placed a tray on the bedside table. "Well, I'm sure that your hungry, after being washed ashore and sleeping for the last few days.Why don't you eat while I go get the matriarch? She said she wanted to meet youas soon asyou woke up."

With that it turned away, leaving her with a tray of food and enough confusion to make her head hurt again. She might not be able to remember anything, but she did remember that. Or at least, what that was supposed to be. And that was not supposed to be here. And it defiantly was not supposed to be here talking to her or bringing her breakfast.

Her hand brushed a bandage wrapped around her head. Okay. She was seeing things. That was all that was happening. But the food smelled real enough, and her stomach was defiantly complaining that it knew that it had missed more than a few meals. She reached out and tentatively lifted a piece of fruit. It smelled all right. She took a bite, gobbled down the rest of the slice, and proceeded to make inroads on the rest of the meal.

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

Mariann glanced up from the students and hatchlings gathered at her feet as Zippo entered the room. He waved to her and then took a place along the back wall, indicating that he was in no hurry, and that she should carry in with what she was doing. She nodded.

"And that is how the sunstones came once more to the surface of Dinotopia from the world beneath."

The children "ohh" and "awed", the hatchlings chirped in excitement, retelling their favorite parts of the story to no one in particular, as young ones do. Mariann laughed as they scampered away, most likely outside to play.

"The dolphinback is awake, Matriarch."

Mariann sighed. "Don't call me that Zip. "

"But.."

"I know it's proper, but you are my friend. Call me by my name, please?" She asked, touching one of his forearms softly. "I'm still not quite used to the whole idea yet."

No one had been expecting the sudden illness of the former Matriarch, Mariann's mother Rosemary. Though her mother was on the mend, she was still weak, and many doubted that she would ever have the strength to resume her duties as the matriarch of Dinotopia.

"Yes Mariann. Of course."

"How does she seem like she's doing?"

The dino considered his answer. "I'm not quite sure. She seemed quite confused and surprised when she saw me. If nothing else her appetite has not been hurt. She was eating quite rapidly when I left.

Mariann chuckled. " That is always a good sign. Come on, let us go and see what we can learn of this newcomer."

**All right. Another chapter is at an end. So go read the second one. Right after you get done reviewing this one for, right?**

**brandishes flamethrower**

**Because if you don't... I might have to try out one of my new toys on you...**


	6. No Way Home

**Washed Away**

**Well... heres another chapter. Just for you SJ. Merry Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: Good grief... this is like the nightmare that never ends, isn't it? Do I have to spell it out? I S N O T M I N E. There. All Done.**

SJ could not stop staring, no matter how hard she tried. All around her the city bustled with activity as the inhabitants of Sauropolis went about their daily business. The sight of sixty foot dinosaurs strolling down the street was something that she had never dreamed of, and were she not currently riding a walking giant she might have thought that her eyes were still playing tricks on her.

So wrapped was she in trying to take in everything at once that she did not notice that they had stopped until Redcliffe leaned down. She slid off obediently and took a moment to study the building in front of her. It rose high skyward, and, like everything else in the city, was a masterful piece of architecture. As she studied the front of the building she noticed what appeared to be writing, and pointed.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"On the side of the building there. It looks like writing, only its shaped like foot prints."

Verel had dismounted from Sandstone, and now he stepped forward, running his fingers along the wall until they encountered the writing, and he traced it with a finger thoughtfully. "It's footprint. You'll learn to read it."

"Oh..." Now SJ looked at it eagerly, curious. She had always loved languages. "What does it say?"

"It is one of the codes of Dinotopia. It reads ' Observe, Listen, and Learn.' This is one of the Record Buildings of Dinotopia. The largest and most important Record Building is in Waterfall City, along with the Great Library. You'll have a chance to visit it. All dolphinbacks visit Waterfall City."

SJ followed him in through a small door set in one of the giant doors. "Why?"

"Because that is where the official Registry is. And because it is a place of learning."

"Back to school, again." The blonde grumbled, but her voice lacked any real conviction.

Verel laughed and held up a hand to stop a passing dinosaur. The Saurian stopped and listened politely as the human hooted at him before hooting in return and trotting off. SJ watched the whole exchange with interest.

"Did you just talk with him?"

"Hmmm... " Verel turned back to face her. "Oh, yes. Not all saurians can manage human language. You'll find a knowledge of the dinosaur common tongue, Saurian, very helpful. Most humans can't even come close to mastering the wide variety of sounds and tones that dinosaurs use to communicate with one another, but we can manage enough to make ourselves understood and get by. I asked him if a friend of mine was in. He replied that he believed so, and that he would go attempt to find her for me."

"Cool. So what we do we while we're waiting?"

He brushed pale hair back from his face and smiled at her. "You can look around if you want. Just try to stay out of the way. They'll tell you if you are underfoot."

SJ smiled in return and wandered off. Every time she turned around there was something new, something wonderful, to see or experience. The giant typewriter used by some of the recorders fascinated her. The keys were foot pedals! The reading machines empowered by moving dinosaurs looked like overlarge treadmills. She paused at the edge of a huge sandbox surrounded by various saurians and watched as the hoots, grunts, and chirps were translated into footprint script by a scribe. Resigned to the fact that she could not read the writing, she turned away, filled with a renewed determination to learn to read the new language as quickly as possible.

Back in the main lobby she found Verel conversing with a small dinosaur. The pair finished their conversation, than Verel turned to face her. "This is Burra. She's a protoceratops."

The dinosaur raised a foot. "Breathe deep, seek peace."

SJ blinked in surprise as she studied the beak and frilled crest. "You can speak our language."

Verel laughed. "Protoceratops have excellent linguistics skills. Burra can speak over sixteen languages, some of them human, some of them saurian. She has agreed to let you stay at her home until we can get you on a caravan to Waterfall City."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry. I'll visit you again before you leave. The last caravan left yesterday, so there won't be another one leaving for at least a week. You'll have plenty of time to look around." With a wave Verel was gone, out the hall and through the door.

Burra twitched, her tail wagging slowly in amusement. "Humans can be so amusing at times. I have a few things I need to get before we leave, then we can head home for the day. I'll just be a minute."

SJ's second walk through the city was as captivating as her first entrance. Now she was experiencing the daily dance of the city not from the safe height of Redcliffe's back, but at ground level with the rest of the cities smaller inhabitants. Now that she was not elevated above the crowds she found that she was noticed much more quickly and was rapidly becoming an object of curiosity. Many times she was stopped in the street by well wishers and welcomers.

"It is just how we are. We are curious about the outside world, and Dolphinbacks are our only source of information. Besides, it always fun to meet new people." Burra explained. "Here we are." She stopped in front of a door which appeared perfectly normal except for the fact that the latch was a level easily accessible to a protoceratops. The small saurian pushed the door open and stepped back. "Be welcome in my home."

Dinner was excellent, though a vegetarian lifestyle after a lifetime of eating meat was going to take some getting used to. At least Dinotopians considered fish edible. She might have gone insane otherwise. Burra had some work to do after the evening mean, and informed SJ that she was free to look around the house and settle herself in the guest room. They could go out and find some new clothes and shoes for her tomorrow.

Taking her at her word, SJ wandered from room to room in the small flat, studying the artwork lining the walls. She eventually found herself in a small sort of study, complete with a large map of Dinotopia on one wall. Tracing the glass covering lightly with a finger, she found Sauropolis on the southern coast and grinned. Standing back and looking at, she almost thought it could be a map of Australia.

Running a finger up the map, she located Waterfall City, her next destination. Further north were marks with odd names, like Volcaneum and Pooktook. To the east the landscape changed, from swamps and forests to desert and plains, and the map showed a small out island to the far east. As she studied the map though, a slight feeling of unease blossomed in the pit of her stomach, and grew the longer she studied the finely crafted piece. Suddenly, the realization of what was wrong with the picture crystallized, and a small whimper escaped her throat. Something brushed against her hand, and she jumped.

"What's wrong?" Burra asked, moving around so that SJ's hand rested on her crest.

The girl swallowed. "On the map... This is an island. And... according to the map, there are reefs all around the island. How does anyone get here? How does anyone get away from here?"

Burra chirped in distress. "Come into the kitchen and make some tea, and we will talk."

SJ obeyed, following the small ceratopsian into the kitchen and setting the water to boil. As soon as it was done she poured some for herself and set a shallow dish on a lower table for Burra before settling on a cushion on the floor that allowed her to rest level with the protoceratops head asthe dinosaurlay on a couch. The saurian took several sips of her tea and cleared her throat.

"I am sorry that I am the one to tell you this. I had assumed that someone had already explained matters to you. We are not sure how all dolphinbacks arrive on Dinotopia. Some are brought by the dolphins themselves, as I believe you were. Others simply wash ashore alone. Occasionally one or another will arrive in a small rescue boat intact, but those are few and far between. I believe years ago there was a freak accident during an exceptionally terrible monsoon where an entire ship was washed ashore with most of her crew aboard, but that it the only time I have ever heard of that happening.1"

"As for leaving... Had you ever heard of Dinotopia before you came here?"

SJ shook her heard. "No, It's like this place doesn't even exist outside of right here. I... I keep expecting to wake up and find myself in the hospital or something, and finding out that this entire thing is a dream."

"Many new comers feel like that at first. It takes a great deal of time for some of them to come to accept their fates, and some never do. The reason that you have never heard of Dinotopia is simple: Leaving the island is impossible. There are razor reefs that surround the entire island. Any ship that tried to be leave is shredded. There is a rumor that the dolphins know of a way to the outside world, but if this is true, they keep it to themselves, which is for the best2."

"So you're saying.. that there is no way for me to leave here? I can't go home?"

Burra shook her head. "Like I said, I thought that someone would have already explained this to you. No one mentioned it?"

SJ bit her lip. "No.. I thought... I thought that I could leave whenever I wanted. I just assumed that it was my choice. I have a hard time believing there is no way to get away from here. And how can something exist without the outside world knowing about it. All of the satellites and everything that we have in space... We have pictures of the entire earth. There's... there's just no way. This isn't possible."

"The last dolphinbacks to come also mentioned these things that you speak of, these satellites and photographs. They could not explain why or how this happens either, but they all came to accept that it does. What you believe, though, is something that you must decide for yourself. No one can determine it for you."

Burra could see that the girl was exhausted and suffering from a severe shock. She nudged the humans hands gently. "Why don't you go off to bed now. " She suggested "You are tired, and there will be time to speak in the morning, when you are better rested. And when we go out tomorrow you can decide for yourself whether or not we are real."

SJ nodded and rinsed out her cup, leaving it in the sink and wandering off to the guest room, still in a daze. In the kitchen Burra sat quietly, listening as the door to the guest room shut. In her heart she cried in sympathy for the young human who had just found out that her entire world had been ripped away.

> > > > > > > > > > > > > >

**Like I said, this one is a Christmas present for SJ. Hope you liked it!**

1 This takes place in a story written by Alan Dean Foster titled Dinotopia Lost. Like I said, I'm drawing from pretty much anything Dinotopian that I have been able to get my hands on, so this is not really going to follow one specific story line. I know that Foster wrote another book The Hand of Dinotopia where Will and Sylvia found another way out of Dinotopia, but I a writing from the angle that they and everyone who was with them kept what they discovered to themselves.

2 If you read the juvenile series there is a story where the dolphins show a boy a passage to the outside world, but I can't remember what the exact title is or who the author was off the top of my head.


End file.
